John Doe Keeper (Yep Roc)
Not all musicians age well. John Doe is an exception, and his rugged, if not slightly worn good looks fit his music — which can be described with the same words. There’s a dust-soiled country edge to Doe’s music, be it among ballads, roots rockers, blues or lullabies. But there too remains a darker edge, an inner force left from his days as a founding father through X of the Los Angeles punk movement. Songs, be them fast or slow, push forward with determination, driven by Doe’s rich tenor and/or gritty guitar lines, and yet would have fit equally well in the early-’70s when rock and country collided with bluesy, laconic results. Harmonious females — Jill Sobule, Patty Griffin or Cindy Wasserman — provide a sweet counterpoint as well. With Keeper, Doe has created another body of work that reaches into the breadth of Americana without sacrificing his streetwise edge. Keeper is just that. —Glenn BurnSilver
